International assessment confirms leading position: TU Dresden remains a university of excellence

With five clusters of excellence, three of which it is solely responsible for and two of which it shares with a partner university, as well as a convincing overall strategy, the Dresden University of Technology (TUD) continues to rank among the top German research universities.

As announced by the Science Council (WR) and the German Research Foundation (DFG) at a press conference on March 11, 2026, the Technical University of Dresden (TUD) will continue to receive funding as a university of excellence under the Excellence Strategy of the Federal Government and the States. This means that TUD is one of ten universities in Germany whose institutional performance, research strength, strategic development, and vision for the future have been rated as outstanding by international experts – an impressive confirmation of its leading position in the German and international science system. The new seven-year funding phase begins on January 1, 2027.

"The renewed confirmation of TUD as a university of excellence is an outstanding recognition of the development we have been driving forward for more than a decade. We are one of the highest-performing universities nationwide and, with three clusters of excellence under our own responsibility and two under the responsibility of a partner university, we are the strongest technical university in this competition. I would like to express my sincere thanks to all members of our TUD community and our partners in the DRESDEN-concept alliance, who have worked so hard and professionally toward this goal together with us and in accordance with our mission statement as 'TUD | The Collaborative University. inventive. transformative. engaged.' We can and should be proud of this outstanding achievement," said Prof. Ursula M. Staudinger, Rector of TUD.

The Rector watched the moment of the announcement amid great cheering during a live broadcast of the decision by the WR and the DFG with around 150 guests from science, politics, and the city community in the ballroom of the Rectorate building. Among them were Saxony's Minister President Michael Kretschmer, Saxony's Minister of Science Sebastian Gemkow, members of the rectorate, spokespersons for the clusters of excellence, and Dresden's Mayor Dirk Hilbert.

The decision is the result of a demanding evaluation process. Universities of excellence are reviewed every seven years by international experts. In addition to scientific performance, the evaluation focuses on the results of the self-report from the previous funding period, the university's overall strategy, and its future innovative strength.

In recent years, TUD has used the excellence funding to open up new fields of research, attract top international researchers, renew itself as an institution, and significantly strengthen technology transfer through TUD I excite. Today, TUD is the university with the most patents in Germany, with many successful spin-offs in robotics, microelectronics, and biotechnology.

• Success factor: "The Collaborative University"

A special feature of TUD is its trusting cooperation at many levels, which is geared towards clear development goals. TUD operates in a unique scientific ecosystem. This includes intensive transCampus partnerships in England and India at the international level, as well as locally and regionally in the DRESDEN-concept (DDc) alliance with all major non-university research institutions, Silicon Saxony, the largest cluster of the semiconductor industry in Europe, and the biotech network Biosaxony.

"At the heart of our success is our profile as TUD | The Collaborative University: close cooperation across disciplines, combining curiosity-driven basic research with transformation-oriented research together with our partners in the DDc alliance," says TUD Rector Ursula Staudinger. "Our clusters of excellence and strategic research fields – from the life sciences and healthcare of tomorrow to new and sustainable materials, microelectronics, information and data sciences for robotics and artificial intelligence – show that we are also setting international standards in important key technologies."

• Excellence as a mission

Having now achieved the status of University of Excellence for the third time, TUD will continue to receive funding from the federal and state governments to further develop its strategic goals, expand its leading international position, and fulfill its role as a beacon of excellence.

• Background: TUD as a University of Excellence

TUD was already successful in the previous federal and state excellence funding program. TUD was awarded its first cluster in 2006 and received the title of University of Excellence for the first time in 2012. Since 2019, TUD has been permanently funded as a University of Excellence. As such, it must undergo an evaluation every seven years.

A total of at least €148 million per year is available for the Universities of Excellence funding line. This means that, once the evaluation of new applications has been completed in fall 2026, up to 15 universities of excellence or university excellence networks can be funded in the future. Individual universities can receive between €10 million and €15 million annually. The decision on new applications will be made in early October 2026. The new funding phase will begin on January 1, 2027.